Saturday, July 30, 2016

EQUIVOCATION

COLORADO SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL: June 25 through August
6

Bill
Cain’s “Equivocation” is an excellent choice for the roster at the Colorado
Shakespeare Festival, which this year features plays that in this reviewer’s
not so humble opinion were not the Best of the Bard.

Equivocation
is a type of double-speak, which in a roundabout way avoids the crux of the
matter while allowing one to seem to be in alignment with the issue. While not
completely false, it is also not completely true.

There
were, in the time of Shakespeare great religious persecutions, first of the
Catholics and then of the Protestants depending upon the religion du jour.
Under Bloody Mary the Protestants were persecuted. Under Elizabeth the Catholics.
When James I of Scotland took the throne the Catholics were persecuted again.

So
for people wishing to be among the Faithful of their chosen religion it was
sort of a tap dance on quicksand in order to do so and keep one’s head securely
fastened to his shoulders.

If
it were not for the lengthy nature of this piece it could be a wonderful
contrast to Robert Bolt’s unswervingly ethical piece, “A Man For All Seasons.”
Whereas Father Henry Garnett tries to equivocate to remain alive and true to
his beliefs, Sir Thomas Moore speaks his Truth plainly in the face of execution.

For those attending this
piece it might be well to do a quick refresher course on the politics of the
times.

That said, this is a mostly
pleasant conundrum to explore on a hot summer night.

Wendy Franz, one of my favorite directors
from the Halcyon days of Paragon Theatre did an admirable job with the
direction of Bill Cain’s play.

The esteemed actor John Hutton, whose
elocution takes one’s breath away, is outstanding in the role of Father Henry
Garnett. Other stand-outs are Michael Morgan as a shrewd Shag(speare) who
became all things to all men as a playwright and Hunter Ringsmith in a
surprisingly energized and humorous take on King James the First. Rodney Liczano
gives us a limping and duplicitous Sir Robert Cecil that is most memorable.

The
show raises lots of questions about the famous Gunpowder Plot as well as providing
us with a well-intentioned if flimsy notion based on scanty evidence about
Shakespeare and his relationship to his daughter, Judith.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Central City Opera’s production of Puccini’s “Tosca”
is one of the most exhilarating evenings of Grand Opera in memory.

All the
principals deliver powerful performances in both the singing and the acting. Even
the vocals of the political prisoner, Angelloti (Stephen Clark) and the
Sacristan (Donald Hartmann) are memorable. (When can one ever remember being
able to say that?)

The top
notch cast stars Alexandra Loutsion as the jealous diva, Floria Tosca, Michael
Mayes as Baron Scarpia, the most heinous villain in the repertoire, and
Jonathan Burton as the unfortunate painter, Cavaradossi. You will remember Mr.
Mayes for his outstanding portrayal of Joseph de Rocher, the frightening death
row inmate in CCO’s production of "Dead Man Walking"two seasons ago.

Joachim
Schamberger’s excellent stage direction brings the suspense in Act Two to a
fever pitch as Scarpia closes in on Tosca. Schamberger, who also did the set
and projection design, must receive high praise in these realms as well. Schamberger
spent last summer shooting the actual locations for the opera in Europe. Enhanced by David Martin Jacques’ masterful contribution in the lighting design, the result is visual
magnificence.

Jacques
uses a technique akin to a wipe in cinematic terms, which gives one the impression of ink spilling over certain
projections. The result heightens the drama even as it corresponds to the breathtaking
transitions in Puccini’s score.

Maestro John Baril conducts the luscious
Central City Opera orchestra with such vital potency that the results are breathtaking.

Susan
Memmott Allred’s period costumes, especially those for Ms. Loutsion, are
dazzlers.

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Director
Josh Hartwell has cast this property well by starring Emma Messenger as Sue
Mengers.

Messenger portrays the renowned Hollywood agent,
Sue Mengers in John Logan’s one-person show, “I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat with
Sue Mengers,” now on view at The Edge Theater.

As the agent
of such stars as Barbra Streisand, Messenger commands the stage, holding court
for us “poor lambs from Segundo or some such place.”

From time
to time, enthroned upon her couch, she calls disdainfully upon one of the
audience members to hand her a dish or bring her a decanter of wine.

Messenger is delicious at delivering that “peel me a grape” brand of
sarcasm one remembers from those Mae West films of the thirties.

It’s
certain that Messenger relishes the dirt dishing about such motion picture
stars as Gene Hackman, Faye Dunaway and Jane Fonda. Her undoing of the previously
unblemished reputation of Steve McQueen with regard to his relationship with Ali
McGraw is fascinating.

The sarcasm is corrosive and the lampooning
caustic. John Logan’s script allows us to really get intimate with this once timid,
“fat little eight-year-old Jewess”, who left Hitler’s Germany to become a huge
success as an Agent in the Hollywood of the seventies and eighties.

Mengers’ abrasive
criticism of the movie stars whose careers she built is both funny and scathingly
honest. That all of these artists, whose careers she helped forge, left her one
by one, saddens one. The profanity and dissing of same feels like a buffer for
her bruised ego and emotions. She considered them all to be family.

A one-woman show starring CTG Henry Award winner
Emma Messenger

July 15 – August 6, 2016

Fridays, Saturdays and Monday, July 25 at 8
p.m.; Sundays at 6 p.m. (closing Sunday, July 31 at 2 p.m.).